Raiders Finally Fixed With Spacelords Update

Raiders of The Broken Planet released September 2017 and was received by a very divided audience. Nearly a year later, Raiders’ biggest update since launch has been announced and it appears to focus on a fix for the game’s extremely problematic monetisation model.

Raiders Finally Fixed With Spacelords Update

Last May, we took a look at Raiders of The Broken Planet’s horrific monetisation system. It was holding an otherwise brilliant game back. So much so that it threatened the continued existence of the plucky sci-fi co-op shooter. It would appear Spanish development studio, Mercurysteam, have heard not just our complaints on the matter, but the whole of the Raiders community. Almost a year later, Mercurysteam have eased off heavily on their monetisation schemes and announced Spacelords – a free to play title that asks far less of a player to experience the game. Our prayers have been answered. 

For those loyal to Raiders so far, this announcement will come as the icing on the cake, coinciding with the fourth campaign, Council Apocalypse. This campaign will not be the end for our quirky sci-fi characters as it only rounds off the first arc of an ongoing storyline, rich with lore. A new recruitable character, Valeria, will also become available completely free, in keeping with the new ethos of player treatment in Spacelords

Raiders Finally Fixed With Spacelords Update - Valeria

While it may have been obvious to many that Mercurysteam had to change their ways for the continued life of the Raiders universe, it’s all the more satisfying to learn that the team behind it were perfectly aware of its issues. “When we launched Raiders September last year, we hoped its low price point of 9.99 per campaign would open it up to a large number of users, but it didn’t work as we planned” commented Enric Álvarez, Spacelords Director. “Our vision is to see our game enjoyed by millions of users for years to come and putting all of the game's rich content into their hands for free is the way to realize it. We’ve answered our community and hope this removal of any payment barriers will build our devoted community further.”


It’s important to remember that Spacelords is not just a simple update to an existing game. When it drops on Steam this August 23rd, it will be an entirely reconstructed game off the back of existing Raiders assets. In a recent press release from Mercurysteam, we are told “The differences in all aspects go so deep, that the best way to communicate them to players is by re-branding and inviting everyone to experience the new Spacelords themselves this 23rd of August. Newcomers will find a huge, new Sci-Fi universe to get immersed into, while Raiders’ veterans will see their calls answered.” We are assured by Mercurysteam that this rebranding will not alter any existing lore that fans have become familiar with. Rather, it will enhance it and make the universe more accessible to a new audience.

Raiders Finally Fixed With Spacelords Update - Mech attack

Existing Raiders players will be rewarded for their loyalty thus far, though Mercurysteam have yet to announce what these rewards will be. As of today, Mission of The Week becomes Mission of The Day, offering a faster sense of variety in what the game offers on any given day. 

Most significantly, however is that our biggest original gripe with Raiders has been resolved. The in-game currency cost for accessing new missions has been significantly reduced. For any other questions from original and new players alike, there is a very handy FAQ page on the official Spacelords website that is bound to fill you in on every detail.


The only remaining question is whether Spacelords will truly fix all the game’s woes when it drops as a free to play title this August 23rd. Stick around at KeenGamer to see how it turns out and check out our impressions upon its arrival.

2 Comments

  1. Avatar photo

    Saw your older article first due to the headline image popping up in google, just gonna copy my comment from there to here just in case it gets missed: Hi, longtime player here, just ran into this article. There seems to be a problem with your biggest complaint– claiming that missions that you own, cost credits to play. You may have got in on the free DLC weekend, but it seems that you do NOT have any of the DLC’s active in any of your screenshots or review, if they are asking you for credits to rent them. The base campaign itself, which just includes the tutorial and Hangin’ by a Thread, is and has always been free, with the campaigns after that costing $10 to be able to play those missions whenever you want. They allow renting for credits for the f2p players, but on the free DLC weekend, you should have gotten all of the campaigns so you had access to it all without renting. There was a hiccup where people were having issues activating the DLC so perhaps you ran into that, you may be able to email Mercury Steam’s support to help there. BUT in any case, the game is getting an overhaul Aug 23rd and going full free 2 play, so the renting of missions is disappearing, as well as the option to pay $10 for the campaigns. The whole playerbase will be able to play any mission they want, just locked behind progression kinda like the character unlocks. Hope you check it out again, and definitely shoot their support email a message about the free DLC issue on Steam.

    Reply
    • Avatar photo

      Hi there,

       

       

      First of all, thanks for reading. It never goes unappreciated. Also thanks for filling me in on the experiences of a player that’s stuck around with Raiders clearly far longer than me.

       

       

      You have a fair point about this free DLC issue and I will definitely be contacting them about that. I was under the impression that weekend was all about getting paying customers through the door as a priority. We can both agree however, that the Spacelords update is a great thing. I’ll definitely be heading back to the Broken Planet when it drops 😉

      Reply

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